What is a Valinch?

Valinch is a unit of length that was historically used in the measurement of type, particularly in the printing industry. It is defined as one-twelfth of an inch, or 0.8333 millimeters.

The term "valinch" is derived from the Old Norse word "fálinn," which means "a small measure." It was commonly used in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries to measure the size of type bodies, which were the metal blocks that contained the letters and other characters used in printing.

Today, the use of valinches has largely been replaced by more modern measurement systems, such as millimeters or inches. However, the term is still sometimes used in the printing industry as a way to describe the size of type or other printing materials.